You beta believe it —

Chrome Beta for Android update adds full screen browsing

The browser-in-beta also hits version 27.

Google Chrome Beta hit version 27 today and with it includes a slew of updates, including a new feature for tablets.

First in the list of new features includes a brand new full-screen mode for Android phones. As users scroll down, the toolbar will scroll up with the rest of the page so that it doesn't take up the top portion of the browser, enabling more room for reading without the distraction of a toolbar. Google has also enabled simpler searching, which keeps the search query visible in Chrome's Omnibox rather than switching to the URL of a Google Search.

Enlarge/ Users can now search from the omnibox without losing track of their search query.

The update to Chrome Beta also includes client-side certificate support, while the tablet version has been updated with the ability to long press on the browser back button to view tab history. Google has also listed several known issues with this particular Beta build, which includes lag in text entry, duplicate links in the history archive, and page flickering.

The full change log is available on the official Google Chrome Releases blog and you can download the beta app from the Google Play Store.

Florence Ion
Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.

32 Reader Comments

Full screen browsing makes me happy. Having used Windows 8 on a tablet, I can say IE 10 really does a great job of only showing the browser elements when necessary. I hope Chrome starts to follow the same swipe-in concepts.

And still no way to request desktop version websites by default. I don't understand why Google continues to make all these other improvements without addressing the most glaringly obvious and easily fixable usability problems. Maybe it's alright on a phone, but Chrome on an Android tablet is terrible because of this.

When are they going to give the option to disable auto refresh? It's a pain in the arse when you are writing a comment etc and you change tabs to look at something else (to garner more information, for example) and then come back to the other tab to find it refreshing.

When are they going to give the option to disable auto refresh? It's a pain in the arse when you are writing a comment etc and you change tabs to look at something else (to garner more information, for example) and then come back to the other tab to find it refreshing.

Sounds like that is a memory issue - it has to kick a page out of memory to load the other page.

The problem I have with Chrome is it takes up 200+MB of memory, the biggest app. I can't do anything else, like update apps since it runs me out of storage. I only get 768, and of that I get around 500 to use.

Full screen browsing makes me happy. Having used Windows 8 on a tablet, I can say IE 10 really does a great job of only showing the browser elements when necessary. I hope Chrome starts to follow the same swipe-in concepts.

Been waiting for that for Chrome since it came out, since the stock browser did this since like as far back as I can remember.

I just wish there was a way to close all the tab at once in Chrome ( for android). On my iPhone I have that option, which I love.

Eh click on the tab icon in the upper right corner and then in the tab management mode select the menu : close all tabs?

I personally would kill for close all other tabs.

I can't do this on my Nexus 7, so maybe it works on android phones ?

Just Googled it and apparently the feature really isn't there on the nexus7. I use an s3 my nexus7 committed suicide a while ago. Really weird that this function should be different in phone and tablet version.

I would prefer if they fix a clitch that was recently added. Suddenly nothing loads anymore and when you go to the tab overview there are weird pixilated shapes on the tabs. Only closing all tabs and killing the apps does fix it.

I would prefer if they fix a clitch that was recently added. Suddenly nothing loads anymore and when you go to the tab overview there are weird pixilated shapes on the tabs. Only closing all tabs and killing the apps does fix it.

Not sure if it is related but, it's another reason I stay away from Chrome - it depends too much on good video drivers.

Oh good, now I don't have to switch to Firefox Aurora (which also gained nav bar hiding recently). It's really annoying to use landscape when 1/5 of the screen is occupied by the nav bar, even on a 15:9 Nexus 4.

When are they going to give the option to disable auto refresh? It's a pain in the arse when you are writing a comment etc and you change tabs to look at something else (to garner more information, for example) and then come back to the other tab to find it refreshing.

Sounds like that is a memory issue - it has to kick a page out of memory to load the other page.

Yep, that's memory. Background tabs are only ever reloaded if they've since been paged out.

Maybe they could prioritize background tabs with entered form data over those without (don't know if they do, it'd be a nice RFE if they don't).

The new version of Chrome for iOS adds full-screen browsing for iPod touches and iPhones. It also adds the Cloud Print remote printing function and the ability to save PDFs to Google Drive.

For now, I like how the address bar disappears, but is readily available when scrolling back up the page. I look forward to being able to save PDFs to Google Drive although it would be better to be able to save to your local device for future offline browsing (although I imagine there are reader apps for that).

Am I the only one who noticed that it's not a full-screen like in built-in browser? It _only_ hides address bar, but leaves notification bar in place. At least on my SGS3, stock browser hides that, too - and this feature makes great improvement on usability when in landscape mode.

And I was already hoping I'll be able to dump the stock one... One more thing I miss in Chrome is the quick shortcut menu that slides from side on the stock browser. God I love that feature!

i'd like to see a function to "reopen closed tab". can't tell you how many times i've accidentally closed the wrong tab, and there's no ctrl-shift-T to bring it back. browsing history is conspicuously absent (or else not obvious how to get to) on the phone, so that avenue isn't available either. dolphin has had this forever.

the other feature i really want was mentioned above - the option to always view the desktop site by default, and only show a mobile site if i specifically request it. "mobile-friendly" sites are often an exercise in frustration, and should really be called "mobile-hostile". dolphin has also had this for ages.

web dev's - if you're trying to make a "mobile" site, please stop trying to target people using cheapo flip phones with 120x80 pixel screens. if you see a browser agent that says iphone or android anywhere, give us a REAL site!

I am disenchanted with chrome since the permission increase for recording audio and video at any time. In fact i still haven't updated it because of that. What i wouldn't give to be able to deny permissions for android apps like my old BlackBerry. Not enough that i want to go back to blackberry though.

When are they going to give the option to disable auto refresh? It's a pain in the arse when you are writing a comment etc and you change tabs to look at something else (to garner more information, for example) and then come back to the other tab to find it refreshing.

Sounds like that is a memory issue - it has to kick a page out of memory to load the other page.

Yep, that's memory. Background tabs are only ever reloaded if they've since been paged out.

Maybe they could prioritize background tabs with entered form data over those without (don't know if they do, it'd be a nice RFE if they don't).

I can run 5+ tabs without issue. I have next to no applications installed, on a Galaxy S3. Chrome does this with even just one tab open and I browse to a different app, or even to my home page.